Meeting the Real Jesus: when others hate you

So far in this series of “Meeting the Real Jesus,”

Jesus met a guy who thought he was better than everyone else.

Jesus met a guy who others thought was worse than everyone else.

Jesus met a woman who thought she was worse than everyone else.

And for our final installment, Jesus meets a guy who everybody agreed that they hated.

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was a tax collector and not just any tax collector, but a chief tax collector (19:1-10). It shouldn’t be hard to wrap your brain around the fact that he was not liked by the community. Tax collectors were considered some of the worst back then. They worked for the Romans, who were the occupiers, the oppressors, the foreigners that ruled over Israel and forced the Jews to pay taxes to them. The way the system worked was in order for the tax collectors to make any money for themselves they had to extort more money from the people than they had contracted to pay to the Romans. They forced people to pay more than the Romans required. Which means they had a horrible reputation. Zacchaeus was even worse than your average tax collector because he was actually a Jew who worked for the bad guys, which meant he had betrayed his own people…and not only that, he was rich as a result of it. He had squeezed every penny he could out of his own people to become rich, which made him a hated man. No one liked him. Guys like him are one of the reasons why the Pharisees and others lumped the tax collectors in with the worst of the worst in their society. Whenever they would criticize Jesus for the company he kept, they would say, “He hangs out with the sinners and tax collectors.” That was scathing stuff. Zacchaeus was the lowest of the low.

And here comes Jesus. Now, Luke doesn’t tell us exactly why Zacchaeus was so interested in seeing Jesus. But we can figure it out from his terrible social standing that even though he was very rich, he felt the fact that he was an outcast. He was a reject according to the Pharisees and any respectable Jew, and here comes this guy, this rabbi, this teacher, that had developed a reputation for hanging out with rejects just like him. Zacchaeus had a greater need than his money could satisfy. His favorite Beatles song was “Can’t Buy Me Love.” His actions here tell us he was desperate for love though. He does two things here that men never did in the Ancient Near East. First, he runs ahead. Unless you were in a battle, literally fighting a war, self-respecting men did not run in their culture. Only little kids ran. It would have been an embarrassment to him. And second, he climbed a tree. In a culture where men didn’t run it seems pretty obvious that they didn’t climb many trees either. These two actions would have been huge faux pas for someone like Zacchaeus, but he does them anyway because he needed to see Jesus. He was very short after all. He had been blocked out by the other people. You can imagine him saying, “Hey guys, can I get through? I want to see him too.” And the people realized who was asking it and then formed their wall even tighter to intentionally block him out. All that wonderful passive aggressive behavior we partake in when we don’t have any real power over a person…we still let them know our displeasure.

And Jesus comes passing through Jericho, which is itself an interesting detail Luke includes. Usually when someone like Jesus, who was considered an important teacher, came to a town he would be asked to stay for at least a night, and he would be obliged to accept their hospitality, a huge part of Middle Eastern culture. But Jesus clearly had rejected this offer as he passed through town, and then he comes to the sycamore tree where Zacchaeus was sitting trying to catch a glimpse of this friend of sinners and tax collectors. And what does Jesus do? He calls Zacchaeus down and tells him, of all people, that he must stay with him. He doesn’t want to stay with any of the respectable people in town; he wants to stay with the short extortionist, the chief tax collector…so much so that he uses the word “must.” I must stay with you. Luke shows that any desire Zacchaeus had to see Jesus was far surpassed by Jesus’ desire to see him.

This is the life-giving moment for Zacchaeus. He was used to being the reject, the outcast, the hated extortionist, and he is all of sudden chosen by Jesus, sought out by Jesus, honored by Jesus. Jesus gives Zacchaeus importance in front of the whole crowd from Jericho. He wanted to stay with him and fellowship with him. It is no wonder Zacchaeus received Jesus joyfully, and it is no wonder the Pharisees and others in the crowd were deeply offended by Jesus. By going to Zacchaeus’ house where there would have been a banquet and celebration Jesus was saying in effect, “I am aligned with this man…I am with him and with people like him.” We understand what it is to get invited to an important person’s house or to have a significant person want to have dinner with you. Well, this was that on steroids. In the Ancient Near East there was nothing more significant in terms of relationship than table fellowship, opening your home to someone and sharing a meal with them. Jesus’ act is tearing down the wall of separation between the “righteous” and “sinner.” The only thing worse than eating dinner with sinners was to actually participate in their sinful deeds with them. Jesus just kept on breaking all of the social norms, and he tells us why. He sums this whole interaction up by saying he came to seek and to save the lost. He came for the rejects, the enemies, the sinners, not for the righteous.

Remember Jesus commenting on how hard it is for a rich person to be saved in our first encounter with the rich young ruler? And remember the disciples’ response, “Who then can be saved if this guy can’t?” What was Jesus’ reply? “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Here in the very next chapter from the rich young ruler we see Jesus proving his point. This rich guy gets saved quite easily. AND he’s not just any rich guy…he’s a horrible rich guy, who has mistreated everyone. The difference between the two is Zacchaeus had no illusions about himself. He was rich yes, but he was a social outcast. Everyone hated him. He was as swindler and a cheat, and he knew it. But the rich young ruler saw himself as a really good person. He had it all. He was extremely rich as Luke says, and he was a law-abiding Jew. And everyone respected him.

But Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came for people who are desperate, who are in need. As we heard, Jesus responds to the rich young ruler with the law, with the one thing he knows will be impossible for the rich young ruler to do because he wants to destroy his false hope. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus self-righteously. He thinks he’s got it together and is basically looking for the rubber stamp of approval from Jesus. But Jesus does not want him to put his faith in himself…in his own goodness, so he goes after his wealth. The ruler goes away sad finally coming to grips with his real problem…finally realizing that he too is lost.

But with Zacchaeus Jesus responds with grace, not law, because Zacchaeus was already there. He had already been fully prepped by the law and his neighbors, who told him he was a guilty sinner, the worst of the worst in society, a cheat and betrayer. And he came to see Jesus with no righteousness, no faith in his own goodness, and not even any dignity…running and climbing trees to see him. And Jesus extends to him honor and relationship…love. “I must stay with you Zacchaeus.”

The results? Zacchaeus having experienced Jesus’ love and acceptance responds by giving his wealth away. The money he thought was the answer to his problems before had lost it’s importance in light of finding the true answer to his true need. He was happy to give it away to the poor…to make amends. It was his joy to be generous. Money was not his hope any more…Jesus was. It always works this way. Jesus frees you from fear and frees you to give your wealth away too…to bless others.

This is how Jesus handles you when you feel like a complete outcast. This is how he handles you when you have betrayed your own people, when you have lied, cheated, and stolen for your own personal gain. He has come to seek and save you. He says, “I must come stay at your house. I must align myself with you because you are exactly the type of person I came for. You know you’re brokenness. You know you’re neediness. You know that you have gotten yourself into a mess and can’t get yourself out. You’re reminded of it with every passive aggressive comment, every side-eyed stare from the people around you. I must come stay with you.” This is the real Jesus. He loves you, and he knows that his love will never leave you the same. Being with him…being sought out by him…being loved by Jesus changes you. He has come to seek and save the lost. He has come to make his home with you. Jesus is with you. He is for you. Amen.

Recommended Reading